50-year-old Waterboro woman dies in fire while trying to rescue pet

WATERBORO, Maine — The state fire marshal’s office says a Waterboro woman has died in an early-morning house fire.

Fire investigators say 50-year-old Mary Gilman was found in the gutted Cape Cod house on Paradise Lane in the Lake Arrowhead section of Waterboro.

A man who stayed at the house Saturday night suffered burns and smoke inhalation. Forty-six-year-old Shawn Girard of Old Orchard Beach is being treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Investigators say the fire likely started near a wood stove in a first-floor porch and rapidly spread throughout the house. Officials say Girard was awakened by smoke about 1:30 a.m. and ran to a neighbor’s house to call the fire department.

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Gilman delayed her escape in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue a family pet.